


Human Enough

by Leni



Series: Makes Three [8]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-17 00:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8123524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: "The Dark One doesn't need to sleep."





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stillsearching47](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillsearching47/gifts).



> Written for still-searching. **Prompt:** Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars - “Would you lie with me and just forget the world?”

The cold woke her up. 

It took Belle a moment to realize that the fire in her room was gone. Frowning, she tried to think of the last time Rumpelstiltskin had let that happen, and couldn't come up with a single instance. He had looked tired when she finally convinced him to lay down for the night, but he must really be preoccupied to forget to set such a simple spell. She pulled up the blankets up to her chin, and blinked when there was no grunt of complaint from her side.

Only then did she realize that she was alone in bed.

"Rumple?"

There was no answer from beside the window, where he liked to stand to watch the outside world when he needed to calm himself, or from the chair where either of them spent hours with a book instead of bothering the other with the light.

Belle stayed still for a moment, trying to convince herself that, after three hundred years living on his own, Rumpelstiltskin knew best when he should take a break and when he could run himself ragged trying to create a spell that all their research claimed was impossible.

Rumpelstiltskin, taking care of himself.

Right.

With a huff, Belle sat up and made a quick search for her nightgown, which was finally discovered tangled with Rumple's sheets at the bottom of the bed. Getting to her feet, resigned to freezing down to her toes until she'd hunted down her love, Belle left the room and walked down the hallway to the only other room in the castle which housed a living human every night. There was a chance she'd been too deeply asleep to hear a child's cries after a nightmare...

But the nursery was empty except for the sleeping three-year old clutching the stuffed wolf Rumpelstiltskin had brought from his last trip. Belle smiled, because no matter how she insisted that Matthew had enough toys, Rumpelstiltskin never seemed to let the idea sink in. 

The room was warm, the boy content, so Belle closed the door with care and continued on her way.

Next came Rumpelstiltskin's old bedroom, which had seen little use before he chose to spend his nights in Belle's bed instead. But sometimes she'd find him inside, smoking his pipe in the only room neither lover nor child would interrupt him without his express permission. Tonight it was empty, the light of her candle showing only the colorful silks and leathers that never seemed to fit in the closet no matter how many times she tidied things up.

A single glance told her that Rumpelstiltskin had not gone to the library, as there was no light under the door. Belle wondered whether she'd find him sitting at his spinning wheel in the main hall, but the urgency that was driving him these last weeks would not be solved by making new gold.

Which meant he was in the same spot she'd drawn him away from earlier that night.

With a sigh, she started the climb up to his laboratory. If she told herself that it was a retrieval mission, maybe she wouldn't stay awake next to him, scrutinizing each book in Rumpelstiltskin's collection for the third or fifth time, trading theories, each flimsier than the last, as they looked for a miracle.

(Only a miracle would stop the curse the Evil Queen was so close to casting, before it swallowed up their world.)

A few steps away from the door, she felt the ward forbidding the entrance of curious little feet wash over her as it allowed her through. She rubbed her arms harshly, chasing away the leftover tingle of magic, and reached the threshold.

"Rumple?"

Rumpelstiltskin turned at once, eyes wide and surprised. He glanced her over, making a quick wave to summon a shawl over her shoulders, before he made a quick pass of his tongue over his lips and blinked in confusion. "The fire," he said at last, offering her an apologetic look. "It's done now, sweetheart."

Belle gave him a look. "I tended this castle without magic for years," she reminded him, coming inside as she spoke. "I can set a fire on my own. What I _cannot_ do, apparently, is to keep the man I love in my bed until he's rested."

At least he didn't deny it. "But Belle...."

She walked to him, taking his wrist into a gentle grasp. He didn't let go of the vial he was holding, but since it wasn't smoking or dripping anything, Belle didn't move away. "You are exhausted, Rumple."

"That's nonsense," he told her, just as he had earlier, and stood straighter. "The Dark One doesn't need to sleep."

Belle curled her other hand around his wrist, drawing his attention before he could turn away. This time it wouldn't be enough to distract him with kisses and naughty promises. Obviously he was willing to allow her to lead him to bed, but not to stay there. "Maybe that's true when you're not working day and night, delving into books you won't even let me touch. But you are." She closed the distance between them, lifted his hand to rub against her cheek, unsurprised when the vial had disappeared by the time he touched her skin. "I'm worried, Rumple. You won't eat. You won't sleep. Matthew and I barely see you, and when we do, you are muttering to yourself. That cannot be healthy!"

He chuckled. "Only you would be worried about the Dark One's health." 

Belle met his eye. "Well, I _am_."

Her forceful tone took him by surprise, making him pause as his forehead crinkled, trying to understand her meaning.

But for all they loved each other, they still had trouble making sense of the other's actions. Belle braced herself for whatever wrong turn the mind of the smartest man she'd met took this time.

"Oh, sweetheart," he said, more softly this time. "I'm still strong enough to protect this castle, even if all kingdoms should send their armies to our doorstep."

Belle let out a slow breath, telling herself he meant well. "I'm not worried about our safety," she told him, keeping an even tone. There was no need for concern, on that end. Few people knew how the curse had landed in the Evil Queen's hands, and even if Rumpelstiltskin's part in it was discovered, no king or queen would march against him as long as there was a chance his power could save them. "I'm worried about _you_."

His look of disconcert made her heart clench. All these years at his side, almost a full turn of seasons since she'd invited him to her bed, and he still couldn't grasp how important he was to her.

She kissed his knuckles, keeping her lips pressed against his skin as she searched her mind for a way to make him understand.

In the end, she decided on bluntness.

"If you're human enough to lose weight," she started, quirking her eyebrow when he would have protested and making a show of pulling on the looser fit of his sleeve, "then you're human enough to need a good night's sleep."

"That's not---"

"You may not _feel_ hunger, but you've dropped half a stone in the last month. If your body can get hungry, then it can get tired too." She saw him press his lips together, and jumped to her main argument. Because taking care of himself was a long second to finding a way to protect themselves from the Dark Curse. "Tired people make mistakes, Rumple."

He scrunched his nose, ready to debate the issue, but finally let out a sigh. "If I do this, you will stop worrying?"

"For a while," she answered honestly.

"This is important, Belle. I can't waste a moment."

"I know it's important. That's why you need to be clearheaded while working on it." She took a step back, giving a slight tug on his hand as she did. His body followed her, even as his mouth tightened. "I'll come with you in the morning," she promised, "I'll ask Wendy to watch over Matthew and I'll help you, Rumpelstiltskin. But first you have to help yourself."

His eyes narrowed. "I'm no weakling."

"No, you are not," she said with a smile, then added pointedly, "Weak people never listen to others' advice."

"Hmph." When she gave another tug, Rumpelstiltskin let himself be pulled a few inches closer to the door. "I guess a few hours' rest can't hurt in the long run."

Belle had started nodding when the thick smoke of his magic enveloped them. In a blink of the eye, they were back in her room, and Rumpelstiltskin's clothes had turned into the loose gown he favored at night. True to his word, the fire was burning in the hearth, the room already comfortably warmer. Belle toed off her slippers and climbed onto her side of the bed, gesturing at him to follow suit. "It will be all right," she said, speaking to the flicker of hesitation in his eyes. "Come lie with me and just forget the world for a couple hours."

He shook his head. "World isn't going anywhere, dearie." But he lifted his side of the covers to join her.

Barely waiting until he had settled down, Belle scooted over until she was pressed next to him, laying her head on his chest with her face turned away from him so he wouldn't notice her wide open eyes. This time she wouldn't let herself drift away until Rumpelstiltskin's breathing had slowed into slumber.

"True," she said, threading her fingers through his as another anchor to this moment together. "But let's pretend."

 

The End  
24/09/16


End file.
